JUST...just 'cause...

“…these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified...” (Rom. 8:30)

One of the hardest things for me to deal with about this illness is not necessarily its symptoms, though they are difficult. But really, it’s the inconsistency. One day, I will have the strength and energy to run errands, eat out, etc., just enough so that I can have little outings. (And every once is a while, I can even make it to church!) Then, there are other days where it takes everything within me to simply get out of bed and feed myself. (Taking showers and/or receiving visitors are out of the question-I’m just grateful if I can change into some different clothes.) You would think that the greatest frustration for this inconsistency for me would be more physically related. It’s not. I become far more concerned with what people think or say. One of my deepest heart issues is the fear of appearing “hypocritical” or desiring to appear “righteous” before man. The fears that run through my mind are that people will think I’m hypocritical; think I’m “selective” in my activities; think that I would be able to do different things if I really wanted to….of course, these fears are absolutely ludicrous…but they are still there.

We all suffer a type of fear of man in some form or fashion. We don’t want to be misunderstood or accused of hypocrisy. We want everyone to understand and approve of us. We all desire to be right from our own perspective as well as from others. And yet, sometimes, we confront this wall of apprehension that we’re not “right” and we have to do something to make us so.

We forget what the Lord really did for us when He called us into relationship with Him. We forget that before we even knew His name, He predestined us-picked us out of the crowd and said, “You’re Mine.” He called us; He issued us an invitation to be His disciple and to be fashioned into His likeness. We accepted His invitation; now we must come to the place where we can believe the truth that He will has also justified us before His Father and man. Justify, meaning, He will make the case that we are right, that we are walking right and living right when we follow Him and seek His face. We may make mistakes, but that doesn’t change our state of righteousness! Sometimes, the Lord may call us to do different things that may appear funny to others. But if we will trust the Lord that He is the One who called us to walk that particular road, for whatever reason, we can be assured that He will also justify us and clear our names before others. We can also be encouraged He will not allow us to suffer shame (ref. Isa. 54:4) but will exalt us to enjoy the abundant life of victory according to His riches blessings in the Spirit.

I love this verse. It is bringing me a new level of freedom, allowing me to surrender to His glorious design of transformation and refinement of my character into His likeness, regardless of how His methods may appear to other people. Receiving it as truth, I am beginning to experience the Lord’s peace and a new revelatory understanding of His unabashed acceptance of me for who I am, not what I do.

Dear reader, know that you are “right” before God simply because you accepted His gift of salvation. You don’t do anything to make yourself righteous; you simply are righteous because Christ made you so.